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Tamera's Medaka Project






The Real Romeo and Juliet
“The Fish Who Just Didn’t Want to Come into the World”

Note: Romeo and Juliet are fish, and though the fish tend to leave the eggs, in this story they stayed.
This is an alternative ending to Romeo and Juliet; they lived on. Little Lenny was all excited to be a part of the Capulet’s. Larry was too. The parents were so thrilled with joy of the two little embryos (Larry and Lenny). But, they were glad there were other little embryos too. However, they did not make it, so their focus was on Larry and Lenny. So they hired a doctor to come in. They wanted to make sure that these two embryos would get the best care. Currently they were in Japan at the time. Oh and these medaka fish in order to survive need to be kept in spring water or tap water at all times. If you have the eggs in a petri dish, make sure you change the water. Metal and rubber would kill these fish too. You should if you happen to keep them, in a closed container to help not have the water evaporate so quickly.
Well, for no apparent reason, the doctor only checked Lenny out. Lenny was currently on April the seventh. He was developing. Around at stage 16, he had several oil droplets in where they were near the end of the egg, on the edge. The next day, the doctor came in again and checked on Lenny and Larry. The poor Capulet’s had lost their son (Lenny). The doctor couldn’t figure out why he died. So the parents wept over their lost son. However, the doctor moved on to Larry and discovered he was still alive!! Larry was at stage 23 and he had a heart beat! This gave a chance to the Capulet’s of at least one of their eggs surviving. Larry was doing well on his next check-up, which was April the eleventh. He was at stage 29. He still had a strong heart beat a-going. He was definitely moving around, for his tail was quite strong. His eyes and veins were developing even more. He was quite healthy. The Capulet’s were joyous. On April the twevelth, the doctor came yet again. He was still at stage 29.
April the thirteenth, he is still developing. The doctor stated that Larry seemed to be still developing, but on the same stage. He said not to worry about it. The next day, though, Larry was still showing signs of a healthy young soon to be medaka fish. He was between the stages 30-31. His bladder is appearing and his blood is becoming a dark shade of pink. Also, he has some fin action. April the fourteenth, the liver is developing and so is his urinary bladder! His organs are developing (stage 32). Eyes are too. April the fifteenth, he is at stage 35!! The spleen and the mouth are developing too. He is shaking very much. Finally on April the eighteenth, the doctor checks on him one last time, still at stage 35. He is shaking a much, but he doesn’t want to come out into the cruel world that he knows. You see he is quite intelligent. On April the 19th, for some unknown reason, Larry is gone!!!!!!!!!!! The Capulets are in distress because he was their only son that was left. We never do know what happens of Larry, but they say if you sit real still in Japan, in the Lyson rice paddie, you can still feel the quakes and shakes of the a little tiny embryo that just never wanted to hatch.

More Information:
Certain structures of the Medaka:
Filaments- they are the hair like structures of the medaka. During spawning, these are on the chorion surface.
Chorion- Embryo’s part of the placenta.
Cytoplasm-holds everything together.
Yolk Sac- membranebound sac that is attached to the embryo providing nutrients for the early (in stages of developing).
Oil globule- The temperature affects the size of it. It is said to nourish the egg.
Heart- pumps blood to the body. There are four main chambers and one of tehese the bulbus arteriosus is where blood goes to the gills for oxygen.
Pectoral, caudal, and dorsal fins- increases speed of fish, helps it maneuver and swim.
Optic cup/eye- sight
Brain- the control center of the whole fish.
Mouth and jaws- help it eat
Somites- “groups of mesoderm that will become dermis, skeletal muscle, and veterbrae”
Vitelline membrane- it is around the yolk.
Blood vessel- transports blood around the body.
Urinary bladder- collects the urine from the kidneys.
Swim bladder- helps in the buoyancy (staying at certain levels of water) by shrinking and expanding from gas pressures.
Spleen- helps in the immune system and helps in red blood cells.
Liver- helps in digestion, storage area for things like carbohydrates.
Intestines- breaks down food and helps to get nutrients.
Resources:
http://www.iowas.co.uk/fish%20anatomy.html
http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/vitelline+membrane
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somite
Care for hatching and beyond:
Keep the water from before, to keep the fish in it. However, you need to filtrate the water. If you keep it in a tank, make sure you have them the same size and nice fish in the tank, if you do. For feeding them, they apparently will eat anything. For more information, check out this website: http://animal-world.com/encyclo/fresh/Killifish/MoonlightMedaka.php


Angellica's Medaka Project


I apologize for the size of this presentation. It was originally made using Comic Life and then turned into a PDF. Unfortunately, this means that the size is more adequate to be viewed as a whole page. Enjoy, and don't forget to scroll! Wouldn't want to miss anything, now would you?


The final picture of the hatched medaka is credited to Team Dexter. Our embryo did not hatch in the observation window. It was released into the tank and what happened to it after that is a mystery. Please also note that the first day was another embryo entirely. Our first fishy (Lenny) died and was replaced by Larry.




More Information:
• filament-hair-like protrusion the outside of the egg
• chorion-part of the placenta in the egg
• cytoplasm-gel like substance inside of the egg and surrounding the embryo
• yolk sac-sac that provide nutrients to the embryo
• oil globule-oil droplets inside egg
• somites-will become skeletal muscle, dermis, and vertebrae

Resources:
Team Dexter
Somite
The Japanese Medaka: Care and Development by Robert V. Kirchen and William R. West